These are the best and worst airlines and airports in 2019

Thomas Cook ranked as the worst airline in the world (Photo: Shutterstock)

The best and worst airlines and airports for 2019 have been revealed, with Qatar Airways taking the top spot for the second year running.

The research, conducted by air passenger rights organisation AirHelp, signals bad news for British travellers, with some of the UK's biggest airlines falling way down the rankings.

UK airline rankings

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The research assessed 72 global airline carriers and found Thomas Cook ranked as the worst in the world, dropping down 21 places compared to last year.

EasyJet didn't fare much better in 71st place, with Ryanair also among the bottom rankings as the fifth worst performing in the world.

The best ranked among UK carriers was budget airline Flybe, which came in at 11th place, followed by Virgin Atlantic in 15th.

British Airways also ranked quite highly in 23rd place, while Jet2.com took 54th.

Bristol Airport was rated as the best performing in the UK, taking 70th place out of a total of 132 (Photo: Shutterstock)

How were airlines assessed?

To produce the rankings, AirHelp analysed key performance indicators from 2018, including how often flights were on-time, along with quality of service and the speed of processing claims in the event of delays or cancellations.

Henrik Zillmer, CEO and co-founder of AirHelp, said: "The AirHelp Score 2019 must serve as a wake-up call to the UK's aviation industry, which is continually failing those that matter the most - the passengers.

"It's crystal clear that more needs to be done to adapt to ever-changing demands, whether it's airports adding and extending runways to cope with the influx, to airlines focusing on the industry-wide lack of pilots and often poor cabin-crew conditions.

"Action is needed and it is needed now to ensure passengers are not the innocent casualties of the UK's floundering aviation industry."

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